Hopefully below we answered any of your additional questions, but feel free to ask us anything else that you cannot find on our website. We strive to continually develop this section, so your help by asking questions will allow us to expand this page.
There are many pros and cons for both. For more information, look at PTY in a nutshell and PTY handbook on ELE. We think these aspects are most important:
Money - although you do get Student Finance while on your PTY, you will be effectively working full-time whilst not being paid and therefore you need to consider if you can support yourself without a paid placement. Academic placements are likely to be unpaid (although funding can be applied for) whereas industrial placements can be paid.
Flexibility - industrial placements tend to be more rigid in their goals and time management of the placement with not much room for movement whereas academic placements can be more flexible. For example, if a work colleague is attempting a new protocol, an academic placement may allow you to take out time for observation whereas an external placement may not.
Acceptance rate - academic placements are considered "easier to get" because each research group may only have a few students applying to work with them whereas industrial placements are highly sought after and you may be competing against tens of students from across the country to get 1 placement.
Ultimately, the decision is yours and you have to decide which pros and cons matter the most to your situation and therefore which will be best for you. Remember that you can apply to as many placements as you want - both academic and industrial - you don't just have to apply to only academic or only industrial unless this is what you want.
For industrial placement years the application process starts earlier. The deadline for applications is usually in October so I would recommend preparing in advance. For a large pharmaceutical company such as GSK there are multiple rounds of selection. First you apply for your chosen placement and department by sending in your CV and a short personal statement or reason for applying. The next section is an online psychometric test where you will have a series of questions to answer online in a given time period. This is followed by selection for assessment centre or interview which are usually quite early in November. You will then be informed shortly after if you have secured a placement.
Working for a large company is a really exciting experience. Within a larger team and department you could contribute to multiple projects in multiple disease areas to support whole department objectives. On a large site there are lots of opportunities to explore other departments and science taking place on site, with seminars, shadowing, student swaps and collaboration opportunities. There is still lots of flexibility and diversity however the days and processes are more structured. There is more regulation with processes and workflows where they are completed in a certain way to meet company policies.
The placement year is worth 1/7 of your entire degree (1st year is not counted, 2nd year is 2/7, and final year is 4/7.) However, the assessment of the PTY mainly occurs in the first few months of your final year via a written report (65%) and poster (20%) but please refer to the most up-to-date PTY Handbook for more details. As long as you pass your PTY year you will graduate with it included in your degree title.
NB - This information was accurate as of May 2019 for Student Finance England and Wales for an external placement occurring within the UK, processes for other finance providers may vary. Please refer to the relevant SF websites for England, Wales, Scotland or NI for the most up to do information.
You can apply to Student Finance as you normally would when heading onto a placement year. However, they will ask for various details about your placement such as location, duration, and whether you will be getting paid or not. If you're entering onto an unpaid placement, you may find that Student Finance initially award you with a 'Reduced Rate Maintenance Loan'. Do not be alarmed by this as it is easily amended. You can email info@stlukes and request a signed letter to be sent to SFE confirming the following:
Your Student Finance customer reference number
The placement is unpaid
The 'type' of unpaid placement
Your primary role
The address of the placement location
The info@stlukes team should have most of this information already at this point in the process and will be able to sign and send it for you. After receiving it, your finance application will be updated to the full amount you would normally be entitled to.
Any other questions regarding finances or student loans should be directed to sid@exeter.ac.uk who will be able to direct you to the appropriate people in the finance department.
As of September 2020, Dr Joanna Tarr and Prof. Sarah Richardson are the module leads of PTY. If you have any questions about PTY, please use this website and the PTY handbook to try and find an answer before contacting the module leads. This website is being continually updated so if you think there is a gap in information, please use the form below to contact us and we can update the website accordingly.